WE HAVE A LEGAL DUTY TO PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION
We understand the importance of keeping your health information private. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information and provide you with this Notice of our Privacy Practices. Your information is referred to as "protected health information: (PHI).

This notice explains how, when, and why we collect, use and disclose your information and about your rights concerning your information. We must follow the privacy practices described in this notice beginning April 14, 2003. This notice will remain in effect until we modify it. We may change our privacy practices and this notice at any time. When we make a significant change in our privacy practices, we will change this notice and send the new notice to our subscribers.
HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION
Under some circumstances, we are allowed by law to use and disclose your PHI without your authorization. We use and disclose only the minimum amount of information necessary to satisfy the purpose of the use or disclosure. We are permitted to use and disclose your protected health information for care and treatment in order to provide healthcare services to you. We may also use your protected health information for payment of your healthcare bills and to support the operation of our medical practices. The following information describes the different categories of our uses and disclosures and some examples to illustrate the category.
Uses and Disclosures Without Your Authorization:

Treatment: We may use and disclose your protected health information to provide you with medical treatment and services. We may disclose your PHI to doctors, nurses or other health care professionals who are involved in your care. We will also use your medical information to coordinate and manage your healthcare and any related services. We may also provide your medical information to people outside Tri-Life who may be involved in your medical care. For example, we may provide information to an entity that becomes involved in your care at our request to assist with treatment.

Payment: We may use and disclose your PHI to pay for services that are covered under your benefit plan from an insurance plan or a third party. This may include providing information to your health plan or insurance company before it approves or pays for healthcare services that we recommend. We may also disclose medical information to other healthcare providers for payment purposes. For example, we may tell your health insurance company about recommendations for chronic pain treatment.

Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose your PHI as needed to support and operate our business activities and make sure that our patients receive quality care. Several examples of how we may use and disclose your PHI for health care operations include:

  • We may call you by name in the waiting room when the clinical staff is ready to see you.
  • We may use medical information about you to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff.
  • We may combine medical information from many patients to decide what additional services we should offer and what services are not needed. Other reasons that we may disclose your medical information include conducting training programs, underwriting for insurance, auditing, business management and planning, and administrative functions.
  • We may use medical information to remind you of appointments at our facility. We may contact you with information about treatment alternatives or other health related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.
Required by Law: We may use or disclose your PHI when we are required to do so by federal, state or local law. The use or disclosure will be limited to what is required by law.

Health Oversight: We may disclose your PHI to health oversight agencies that are responsible for activities such as inspections, audits and investigations. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the healthcare system, government programs and civil rights laws.

Public Health and Safety: We may use or disclose your PHI for public health activities such as to a public health authority or other government authority in charge of collecting information for public health. For example, we may report vital statistics or communicable diseases.

Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence: We may disclose your PHI to the appropriate authorities to report a concern that you have been a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. Disclosure will be consistent with state and federal laws.

Legal Proceedings: We may disclose your PHI for legal proceedings in response to a court order, administrative order, subpoena, discover request, or other lawful process.

Law Enforcement: We may disclose your PHI to law enforcement officials in certain situations. For example, we may disclose PHI for legal proceedings, to help identify or locate a suspect, witness or missing person; to report a suspicious death that may have resulted from a crime; information concerning a crime on our property; and to report a crime in a medical emergency.

Workers' Compensation: We may disclose your PHI as required by workers' compensation laws and other similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illnesses.